


Plenty of Fish

by shaqfu



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternative Universe - Mermaid, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-07-23 17:29:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7473144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shaqfu/pseuds/shaqfu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith starts to think his luck is getting better when he gets hired to work on a fishing boat but maybe it's getting worse when he falls off the side of the ship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Plenty of Fish

“Listen, Keith, you’re a hard worker and I you’re a great person, but we need to let you go.”

 

Keith’s eyes widened, “I need this job, you don’t understand. This is the third job in the past two months. Please, just give me another chance.” Keith knew it was a losing battle but he was going to try and save his job.

 

“I’m sorry Keith, we thought that we could handle having another person on the team, but I don’t think that is the case.”

 

It was no use. Keith hung his head, quietly thanking his now ex-boss for the opportunity.

 

Finding a job was harder than Keith thought. For some reason, he couldn’t just hold a job to the point where he was beginning to get desperate. He just wanted to be able to live on his own in this strange and new city.

 

Slowly walking through the foggy streets of the seaside town, Keith hung his head trying to figure out how to get out of this predicament. Waiting to cross the street, he looked up at the telephone pole and noticed a piece of paper that read in big bold letters, “HELP WANTED.”

 

It was like his prayers were answered. Quickly grabbing one of the paper stubs with a phone number on it, Keith called the number as he waited for the light to change. He looked both ways as he let his phone ring.

 

“Hello?!” a regal but nervous voice called through the receiver.

 

Keith was taken aback by the voice. “Hi, are you the number who is hiring?”

 

“Oh! Oh yes, how do you feel about fishing?”

 

Keith grimaced but feigned excitement. “I mean, we’re in a fishing town, so I can’t hate it, can I?”

 

“Perfect! I’m Coran, be here at the boat for four am, just walk down the dock until your see the ship called the  _ Altea _ .”

 

_ That was easy.  _ “I’m Keith. Thank you for hiring me, Coran, I’ll see you there,” Keith responded, a little stunned.

 

———

 

It was so early, too early if you asked Keith.

 

_ Do it for the money  _ he reminded himself.

 

Keith shuffled down the dock in the bright blue and purple windbreaker. It wasn’t exactly his style but it was warm and more importantly, wind resistant.

 

At the end of the dock was Coran and the  _ Altea _ just as Coran claimed the day before on the phone.

 

“Keith, just on time,” Coran shouted as soon as he spotted his new hire. He waved so furiously that Keith almost feared his employer’s glove was going to fall off.

 

Keith proceeded to walk up ramp and onto the ship. As soon as he was on the ship, Coran launched into an explanation of what he had to do and how much he would make.

 

———

 

The pay was not worth it at all.

 

With every wave, Keith felt his stomach sway with the current. He wanted to curl up in a ball under a blanket with the coldest bottle of water possible and maybe eat a lifetime's supply of crackers. Thanks to an unknown incoming storm, the water was even rockier than one would expect. Keith’s desperation led him to his biggest mistake yet.

 

“Coran,” he croaked out, trying to get the captain’s attention. “I don’t feel so good.”

 

Coran looked down at him and laughed just as lightning cracked behind him. “You’ll be fine, everybody’s first time is like this!”

 

Keith was pretty sure that Coran had a lying smirk underneath that huge mustache. The redhead looked like he was born and raised on a ship. He probably learned how to swim before he learned how to walk. At this point, Keith didn’t even know if he was going to get to make it to his second time on a ship.

 

Mustering up his courage, Keith faced the rocking of the waves and the light rainfall that coated the ship. He slowly walked over to the net he was supposed to look over. Suddenly, a quick wave from the opposite side of the ship rocked the ship to its side, knocking Keith over the guardrail and into the ocean.

 

As the waves washed over him, Keith heard Coran scream his name. Slowly, the voice became more and more muffled and the boat began to fade to black.

 

———

 

“Hey, hey! Wake up!”

 

Keith felt a wet hand slap him awake. He slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by a face he has never seen before. His assumed savior was tanned with a smattering of freckles. His hair was sticking to his face, and when Keith continued to look down, he was met with a thick, dark blue tail instead of legs.

 

“This has to be fake,” Keith whispered as soon as he saw the tail.

 

“Hey, I saved you,” the merman shouted, slightly offended. To add emphasis, he flicked his tail.

 

They sat in silence, Keith in horror still staring at the tail and the merman in anger, wishing he got praise instead of shock.

 

After a few moments of disbelief, Keith brought himself back to reality. “Hey,” he began, reaching towards the merman’s shoulder. His skin was slimy, but Keith was committed to trying to be kind. “I appreciate what you did for me. I’m just a little surprised, that a mermaid—er, merman saved me. I didn’t really know you guys were real?”

 

The other rolled his eyes. “As if we would just roll onto your shore and scream, ‘HEY! LOOK AT ME! MERMAN HERE!’ Are you stupid? Of course not! However, what kind off prince would I be if I just let a human drown?”

 

Keith was flabbergasted by the other’s sarcasm but then quickly remembered he was in the pretense of royalty. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know, sir? Prince? King?”

 

Keith’s savior began to laugh. “Call me Lance. Plus, I’m just joking with you, I’m not really a prince. I guess you really know nothing about mer-culture huh?”

 

Keith looked away embarrassed, crossing his arms. “As if you know anything about humans.”

 

Lance began to laugh again. “Of course I do, I’m speaking to you in English right now, aren’t I? Merpeople have been watching humans for centuries, learning about them. It’s kinda foolish to think that I just magically know English, huh?”

 

Lance did have a point and the more he talked to the merman, the more he realized he was talking to not just a creature of the ocean but an actual intellectual. It was kind of horrifying to Keith to think about there are just boats floating over these people's homes.

 

“Hello, human, I don’t know your name either, you want to tell me it before I bring you back to shore?”

 

Keith only just realized now that the pair were resting on a small island of rocks in the middle of the ocean. As soon as he realized the situation, he flinched at the body of water around him.

 

“It’s Keith. Any idea how long it’ll take to get back to shore?”

 

———

 

“Yo, fish breath!” Keith shouts out to the waves in front of him as he walks to the edge of the jetty.

 

This has been going on for a few months, everyday the two would meet at sunset at the edge of the jetty. Together, they’d watch the sun dip behind the ocean and get to know each other a little better.

 

As soon as Keith laid down the towel to sit on, Lance hoisted himself up on the large rocks, joining Keith on the towel.

 

“You know, you’re usually the one that smells fishy since you work on that boat!”

 

Keith scoffed, “Yea, at least my fishy ass has money for once.”

 

Lance smiled at that, thinking about how he met his strange friend a few months ago. Lost in thought, the two watched the sun set in silence. Quietly, Keith let out a yawn. Slowly, he moved from an upright position to laying down, curling into Lance’s side. 

 

“Hey, you tired?” Lance asked, looking down at the human. This wasn’t the first time this has happened.

 

Keith nodded, “Woke up early,” he mumbled into Lance’s side.

 

“You don’t care if I’m slimy?” Lance jokingly asked.

 

Keith rubbed his face against Lance’s side, as if he was trying to get closer. “No,” he whispered as he then latched onto Lance’s arm.

 

Lance looked out at the sunset, enjoying the last of the sun’s rays. Absentmindedly, he began to hum a song that reminded him of his childhood.

 

Lance could barely hear Keith’s steady breathing over the waves but when he did in between each crash, he thought to himself,  _ Maybe humans aren’t that bad. _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I love to die and this is weak. To everybody who met me at connecticon this weekend, I'm sorry that I'm a huge embarrassment and I apologize if I slapped you with my wig at some point (cosplay is suffering.)  
> as usual, if you have ideas tell me, up next is cheerleader/football player WITH ACCOMPANYING ART by my good pal, [cait](http://glassescait.tumblr.com/).  
> also, I apologize if new fics are slow, I finally got a job. ;-;
> 
> [tumblr](http://countvonroo.tumblr.com/) | [twitter](https://twitter.com/vicunad) | [commission info](http://countvonroo.tumblr.com/post/149196715942)


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